e where she pulls the strings to get
husband or lover Government preferment or concession.

Since the war, however, necessity has sharply developed her latent
business qualities. Now it is not unusual to find her in direct
competition, using all those delightful charms with which Nature has
endowed her. This is especially true of widows and women whose husbands
are at the front. They often rely more upon persuasion than upon any
technical or practical knowledge. One reason why they succeed is their
almost uncanny knowledge of men. And this often enables them to grasp
swiftly the clue that business opportunity offers.

One night at dinner a Colonel's widow, a gracious and beguiling lady,
heard that the French Government was in the market for 50,000 head of
cattle. The next morning she sent half a dozen cables to South America,
got options, and in three days her formal bid was at the War Office.
Within a week she had the contract.

I know of a case of the wife of a Colonel at the front, who heard one
day at lunch that the War Office needed 50,000 sacks of flour for the
army at Saloniki. That same day she put the matter before some American
brokers in Paris, who wired to their New York firm and received the
usual American reply: "Am not interested in the French trade now. Will
wait until after the war."

With the utmost difficulty the woman was able to secure 10,000 sacks by
way of Italy and Switzerland. She is not likely to seek American sources
of supply soon again.

An American got a tip one day that a certain contract for machine tools
was available. He had an appointment for lunch, so he said to himself:
"Why hurry? These French people are slow. I'll get busy this afternoon
or to-morrow."

When he went to the establishment in question the next day, he found
that an exquisitely gowned woman had just preceded him; indeed, the
fragrance of the perfume she used still hovered about the outer office.
The man cooled his heels for half an hour when the lovely feminine
vision flashed by him going out. He started to make his selling talk to
the Purchasing Agent, who said, at the first opening:

"I am extremely sorry, Monsieur, but we have just closed the contract
with Madam Blank who left a few moments ago."

The New France has brought forth a New Woman!

Through all the organised approach to Self-Sufficiency and Economic
Rehabilitation, France has not lost sight of her grudge against the
Germans. Indeed, no phase of